Washington Nationals: 3 Takeaways From 7-1 Loss To Mets

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May 23, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Bartolo Colon (40) smiles on the mound after Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman (not pictured) steals second base during the sixth inning at Nationals Park. New York Mets defeated Washington Nationals 7-1. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /

Offense Stalls 2^nd Time Around Against Colon

In their start against Bartolo Colon last Wednesday, the Washington Nationals were able to stay patient and draw five walks against him. But, last night, Colon was pounding the strike zone. The Mets’ right-hander only threw 90 pitches, but 64 of them went for strikes.

Right out of the gate, Colon was throwing first-pitch strikes. He ended up throwing 21 first pitch strikes to the 27 batters that he faced. The only trouble Colon ran into was in the first inning when the Washington Nationals scored their lone run of the game.

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During the opening inning, the Nats got two singles from Jayson Werth and Daniel Murphy. Then, with two outs, Ryan Zimmerman hit a two-seam fastball into right for a base hit to put Washington in front.

However, the offense only had two hits after the first inning. Those two hits were a single by Murphy in the fourth and a single by Zimmerman in the sixth. Murphy and Zimmerman combined for four of the Nats’ six hits in this game (Werth had the other two hits).

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While he doesn’t strike many hitters out (just two last night), Colon showed good command of his fastball throughout the entire night. Despite their lack of hits, the Nats did put the ball in play, but didn’t have many good results. Colon got 13 flyball outs, which is tied for the second most he’s had in a start this season and tied for the most that he has had in a win (May 7 against the Padres).